~ Day by day with RA …

It’s Never Just About Me [Us]

Last week we reorganized some of the major departments in our company and one of them — one with which I work very closely — had priorities refocused and, as a result, went from a staff of 7 to a staff of 3 (the manager and two staff). The manager and I have had our ups and downs (we’re both pretty strong personalities), but over the years we’ve developed a good working relationship and a healthy respect for each other’s talents and the ability to watch each other’s back during the chaos of major projects.

Yesterday afternoon the manager was in my office telling me that she was going to the hospital for a few tests. Some preliminary blood work showed some troubling results and they wanted to take a closer look. It was not good news. She is literally in a life-threatening situation and right now we’re not sure what the course of treatment will be. She was supposed to leave Saturday for a much-deserved break on the beaches of Miami. Instead, she will be confined to a hospital bed undergoing who knows what kind of treatments.

There is no real point to this blog, or maybe there are several.

I have been thinking a lot lately about the difference between chronic illness and sudden events. Which is worse — one that wears you down a little bit every day and never quite leaves your thoughts or your life alone — or one that propels you to the brink in a literal heart beat?

And as involved as I’ve become in the RA community (the support of which I am truly grateful – see the community page link to your right), I am conscious that most of us are mobile and productive to some level and continue to find ways to maneuver around the roadblocks that our disease throws at us. This is much different than someone who suffers a stroke, a heart attack, a car accident that destroys or forever changes a life in an instant. With RA, we are in pain, less mobile, and often in fear. But we’re not going to die today or tomorrow from the disease.

And while we look inward to find the inner strength to cope with our day-to-day challenges, sometimes we have to lend that strength to others.